ST. ANTHONY, Minn. — The police officer who killed a motorist in a shooting whose bloody aftermath was livestreamed on Facebook was defended by his chief Wednesday as a level-headed member of the force with "a real sound ability when it comes to communicating and relating to people."

In an interview with The Associated Press, St. Anthony Police Chief Jon Mangseth sketched a portrait at odds with the image of the officer screaming expletives while pointing his gun at the dying man in the video.

[...]More than a month later, Yanez was expected to return to work for the first time Wednesday, Mangseth said. Yanez will perform desk duties and other administrative work until the investigation is completed and charging decisions are made, the chief said.

Mangseth wouldn't discuss any details of the shooting, including what prompted the traffic stop that preceded Castile's death, citing the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's ongoing review of the incident.

Mangseth also wouldn't say whether he thinks his officer should be charged or exonerated in the case. But he said the 28-year-old Yanez, who is Latino, has had a sterling reputation in St. Anthony's police ranks since joining the force in late 2011. The chief described Yanez as energetic and intelligent, a skilled officer whom he chose to join the department's special crime prevention program.

Still no word on charges in killing of Philando CastileBy Harry Colbert, Jr. | Insight News | September 12, 2016

More than two months after the broadcasted death of Philando Castile – killed by St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez – community members are remaining vigilant in their calls for justice.

This past week protesters took to multiple venues to voice their anger and frustration with the thus-far public inaction regarding Yanez’ status as an officer and having not yet been charged with a crime in the July 6 killing. As the calls for justice continue, authorities with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and the Ramsey County Attorney’s office say the investigation into the shooting is still ongoing with no timetable for a release of findings.[...]Jill Oliveira, public information officer for the BCA, said there is no news to report in the investigation, stating it is still ongoing. Dennis Gerhardstein, public information officer for the Ramsey County Attorney, said it was initially anticipated that Choi’s office would have been presented with the BCA findings by now, but that is not the case.

“At the beginning of August it was stated that the investigation would take about 30 days. That was our best guess,” said Gerhardstein, who said Choi’s office in engaged in ongoing conversation with the BCA regarding the matter. He said once the findings are presented Choi will consult with a five-member team including outside attorney Don Lewis before announcing any decision in the matter.

In the interim, Yanez is again on administrative leave, following a brief return to duty. Yanez’ return outraged many, and in a reaction to that outrage St. Anthony Police Chief Jon Mangseth removed Yanez from the duty roster.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has completed its investigation into the officer-involved death of Philando Castile.

It is now up to the Ramsey County Attorney's Office to decide whether charges should be filed in the case.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi released a statement Wednesday:

Our office will work as efficiently as possible, while ensuring we conduct a diligent and thorough prosecution review of the BCA investigation, in order to determine what justice requires in this case. At this time, we are in the process of engaging national use-of-force consultants to assist in our prosecution review and evaluation of the BCA investigation. Also, it is very likely that we will be requesting further investigation from the BCA, as is typical in these types of cases.

On August 2, 2016, I met with the Castile family and shared details with them on how we will proceed with our prosecution review and our intention to be diligent and thorough in our work.

We cannot provide an estimated timeline for our work until we review the entire investigative file and meet with national use-of-force consultants. Our engagement of such expert consultants will begin as early as tomorrow. By way of reference only, in the case of the officer-involved shooting incident of Jamar Clark in Hennepin County, the prosecution review took a total of seven weeks.

ST. PAUL — The suburban police officer who killed Philando Castile, an African-American driver whose graphic death was streamed live on Facebook, was charged on Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter, as prosecutors heeded the calls of protesters who marched for weeks calling for an arrest.

The officer, Jeronimo Yanez, who will appear in court on Friday, was also charged with two felony counts of intentional discharge of a dangerous weapon.

“No reasonable officer — knowing, seeing and hearing what Officer Yanez did at the time — would have used deadly force under these circumstances,” the Ramsey County attorney, John J. Choi, said.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Attorneys for a Minnesota police officer who killed Philando Castile during a traffic stop in July are asking that charges against him be dismissed, saying Castile was negligent in his own death and claiming he was high on marijuana while driving and did not obey the officer’s commands.

In court documents dated Wednesday and obtained by The Associated Press, attorneys for St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez say that if Castile was negligent, then Yanez should be exonerated.[...]Yanez, who is Latino, has been charged with manslaughter and other offenses. Prosecutors said last month that he acted unreasonably and was not justified in using deadly force.

But in the defense documents, attorney Earl Gray wrote that Castile never told Yanez he had a permit to carry. Gray wrote that an objective review of squad car video confirms Yanez’s account of self-defense, “but more importantly why Mr. Castile himself was culpably negligent and was the substantial cause of his own demise.”

“He should not even have been driving while under the influence. He should have showed his hands. He should not have reached for the handgun,” Gray wrote.

In the court documents, Gray wrote that autopsy results showed Castile had high levels of THC in his blood, and a defense expert determined he was intoxicated. Gray said that explains why Castile didn’t follow directions, stared straight ahead and didn’t show his hands.

Gray said that behavior contradicts training Castile received when he got his permit to carry. He added that Castile kept his right hand in or near the pocket where the gun was found.

Gray wrote, “how could it be that Officer Yanez knew or could have known that when Mr. Castile reached for his gun he would not shoot a police officer dead.”

Castile’s family has claimed he was profiled because of his race, and his death renewed concerns about how law enforcement officers interact with minorities.

The head judge for Ramsey County District Court’s civil division has been assigned to preside over the trial of St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez.

Judge William H. Leary III will handle the high-profile case of the officer facing two felonies in the shooting of Philando Castile, according to a court order signed Tuesday by Ramsey County Chief Judge John Guthmann.

Leary takes over for Ramsey County District Judge Edward Wilson, who initially was assigned to the case, then removed after a request from Yanez’s three attorneys.

The defense’s notice filed in December to remove Wilson cited a rule of Minnesota criminal procedure that allows defense or prosecuting attorneys to ask for the removal of one assigned judge per case without citing a reason. Such requests are automatically granted.

If their evidence is heavily based on Castile's "girlfriend" Diamond, the officer may have a chance. This argument is very interesting (to me). The robbery is mentioned a few times. “Although Castile was the same race as the robbery suspects, nothing else tied him to the robbery,” said the prosecution’s memo. I hope the defense has some better case law to present in their response (due Feb 8). Yanez has not yet entered a plea pending the motion to dismiss.

Evidence supports charges against officer in Castile shooting, prosecution arguesA judge will hear defense and prosecution arguments on Feb. 15, and is expected to decide that day whether the case proceeds.By Chao Xiong | Star Tribune | January 18, 2017

Officer Jeronimo Yanez

The case against police officer Jeronimo Yanez in last year’s fatal shooting of Philando Castile should proceed to trial because evidence supports the criminal charges, and because defense attorneys misconstrued case law in arguing for its dismissal, prosecutors said in a memorandum filed Wednesday.

Questions about Castile’s alleged marijuana use and refusal to obey police commands raised in a defense motion to dismiss the case can only be resolved with a jury trial, the memo said.[...]Yanez’s attorneys filed a motion Dec. 14 to dismiss the case, arguing that Castile was negligent in his own death because he had created “unreasonable risk.” Autopsy results indicated that Castile had high levels of THC in his blood, the chemical responsible for marijuana’s psychological effects, and was “stoned” the day he was killed, the defense said.

Criminal case against officer Yanez in Castile death will not be dismissed, judge ruledBy Chao Xiong | Star Tribune | February 15, 2017

A Ramsey County District Court judge denied a motion to dismiss the charges against Officer Jeronimo Yanez in last year’s fatal shooting of Philando Castile.

Defense attorneys have said that charges against Yanez should be dropped because Castile put himself at risk by allegedly consuming marijuana and disobeying police orders. Prosecutors have pushed back, arguing that Yanez acted unreasonably when he fired on Castile seven times.

Judge William H. Leary III heard oral arguments on the issue Wednesday morning in a 35-minute motion hearing, and issued his decision that afternoon. His decision was filed about 3:11 p.m.

The police officer charged with fatally shooting Philando Castile last summer in Falcon Heights pleaded not guilty on Monday, while his attorney said he will request that the trial be moved.

Jeronimo Yanez, on leave from the St. Anthony Police Department, entered his plea to manslaughter and other charges in Ramsey County District Court.

During Yanez's appearance, a hearing was scheduled for April 3, as well as a tentative starting date for a trial of May 30. Defense attorney Tom Kelly said he plans to file a motion next month for a change of venue from St. Paul, just a few miles from where the shooting occurred.

Diamond Reynolds, the girlfriend of the slain Philando Castile, was charged with assault Friday in connection with a hammer attack on a woman on St. Paul’s East Side.

Reynolds, 27, of West St. Paul, faces charges of second- and third-degree assault in the Tuesday morning attack, according to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court. Two other women — Chnika Blair, 18, and Dyamond Richardson, 25 — face the same charges.

Bail was set at $90,000 each, and all three women are expected to appear in court on Monday afternoon, according to online records.

Will keep up with the Officer's trial but not this case unless you want me to, Rumpole. She's going to plead not guilty. Victim was sprayed with "bear mace" after two cars with 7-8 people showed up to attack her. Diamond should have thought of her daughter needing her BEFORE going crazy with a hammer.

A judge on Monday set bail at $40,000 for Diamond Reynolds, who live-streamed the aftermath of her boyfriend Philando Castile’s fatal encounter with police last year and is now charged in an unrelated assault case.

“I do have public safety concerns,” Ramsey County District Court Judge Thomas Gilligan Jr. said before he announced his bail decision, calling the charges “very serious allegations.”[...]Gilligan also offered Reynolds a second option of $20,000 bail with conditions that she have no contact with the victim or the two other women who allegedly helped her in the assault.

Before Gilligan’s decision, Reynolds’ attorney, Karlowba Adams Powell, argued that she be released with no bail on her own recognizance or in the care of her mother.

Adams Powell said that Reynolds’ 5-year-old daughter was undergoing “significant” therapy after witnessing Castile’s shooting on July 6, and that Reynolds needed to be present for the sessions since her daughter is a minor.

Defense attorneys representing the St. Anthony police officer charged in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile contend that three law enforcement agents who investigated the incident said early on that they considered his actions justified.

In a memo, Jeronimo Yanez’s attorneys say they want the internal communications of three Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents, “all of whom indicated to officer Yanez and his lawyers, before his formal statement was recorded, that the shooting of Castile was justified.”

[...]The defense also continued arguments to move the trial to Brainerd, Duluth, Hastings or St. Cloud, arguing against the prosecution’s claims that the trial should stay in the county despite widespread media coverage.

[...]The defense has tried to quash testimony from the prosecution’s use-of-force expert, Jeffrey Noble, arguing that his determination that Yanez acted unreasonably is not supported by case law or evidence.

The real issue, Gray said, is Noble, whom Ramsey County has paid at least $18,400.

“It is admissible … that the amount of money paid to a man, paid by Ramsey County taxpayers, for an expert from California to fly here and tell us Minnesotans what is proper and improper in police conduct,” Gray said.

The judge heard pre-trial motions again on Tuesday. In addition to arguments about potential witnesses, defense attorneys are requesting the trial be moved so "protesters don't intimidate the potential jurors." Word got out in Ramsey County that protesters would "burn down jurors’ homes if Yanez is found not guilty."